GC Agent Fired

I hope you're right. I have had my writing criticised for not having trans characters so I guess that's where I've got the idea. But I hope you're right it will never become a thing. Although I do think it's already a thing to some extent - maybe not mainstream yet, but in some circles.

I've never had a trans character in a book of mine and none of the books I've read to date have trans characters. It's just not a thing yet and I hope it never will be. I don't really believe that books will be targeted for not having trans characters. It's just not the same as, for instance, books not having black or brown characters. Trans are such a minority, it would really stand out to have them showhorned in as minor characters -- a bit like the black sidekick in so much of crime movies.

Yeah you either don't include trans characters and you're a bigot, or you do and you're an appropriator. Unless you declare yourself trans or NB and guess what? Yep, that's what writers are doing. That's partly why they're so viciously on all this stuff.

"You might not buy books that have a specific trans 'agenda' but if writers are expected to prove their allegiance by putting trans/nb characters in books, it's not going to just peter out by itself. You will find yourself reading books that have trans issues shoehorned in there.”

Won’t those authors then get criticized for writing trans characters when they aren’t trans themselves? Don’t think there’s a win here.

Sasha White is in the Daily M. now.

I think that's JKR having a bit of a dig...

Do you think anyone other than JKR would get away with it?! Well, any other woman, I mean. Honestly I've come up with several whole plots for books about transgender serial killers and psychopaths, doctors involved in massive medical scandals, paedophile rings etc - but can't imagine them ever getting published.

You will find yourself reading books that have trans issues shoehorned in there.

In Robert Galbraith's Lethal White, which is televised from this Sunday, there is a character who describes herself as pansexual "but is only ever seen with men." I think that's JKR having a bit of a dig...

@MondayYogurt that account has now been suspended! I reported it and got a response very quickly. I trust I wasn't the only one reporting it.

I think it isn't just YA and fantasy (both massive genres) that are infested with wokery. Look at some of the big mainstream names of late - Atwood, Bernadine Evaristo, Helen Oyeyemi and others are all jumping on the trans/nb bandwagon. I listened to an interview with Olivia Laing recently where she talked about not feeling comfortable with her 'female gender'. Even Marian Keyes has a trans character in her latest novel (not sure what she does with her, haven't read it yet.) It isn't confined to a particular niche and I don't think it's going away. You might not buy books that have a specific trans 'agenda' but if writers are expected to prove their allegiance by putting trans/nb characters in books, it's not going to just peter out by itself. You will find yourself reading books that have trans issues shoehorned in there.

The 'own voices' campaign is also pretty brutal in deciding what writers are allowed to write about, with traditional authors like Lionel Shriver being completely cancelled and virtually unspeakable now.

To the person who suggested a female only publishing house - I was recently involved with one such, who said that she includes trans/nb in her definition of 'female'. I imagine she has to.

Why does Twitter allow such an obvious threat to remain? I'll go report it but is there any point?

[quote MondayYogurt]Her 'transgressions'

twitter.com/merynlobb/status/1297736461765292036?s=21

I believe the cowards who fired her have locked their account, but their contact form is here:

www.thetobiasagency.com/rights-permissions[/quote]
I gave them my twopence worth on the contact form. Spineless creeps

That’s what I’m thinking, Miss Lawis and Lamahaha, that the market will ultimately decide. It does suck to not be able to speak your mind without being piled on. I never want to offend anyone, but it seems a lot of people don’t care about offending/trying to silence me (book writing and buying adult human female).

I’ll read anything as long as I like the writing and get caught up enough in it to suspend my disbelief. I want to be transported to worlds and experiences other to me (!).

I remember reading a piece by Lionel Shriver in, I think, 2018, when she was decrying what she called the dumbing down of publishing. I didn’t agree with everything, but what she said about pushing ‘woke’ books and ‘good luck with that business model’ did resonate.

It would be great, though, to form a network of GC writers, agents, editors.

@Lamahaha yes it would! Maybe an all-female publishing house too? I mean it's been tried before and was very successful.

And speaking for myself, as a middle-aged/older woman who buys, reads and listens to books avidly, I ain't buying. Shut me up on Twitter, threaten my livelihood, abuse me all you want. You can't make me open my purse. That, ultimately, is the power we have.

So true. I'm in several online book clubs, with thousands of readers, mostly female, who exchange recommendations, and I've never ever seen anyone asking for books about trans.

I'm a writer myself and pretty safe, as I have several book contracts under my belt which will cover the next few years, and then I hope to retire.
It would be great, though, to form a network of GC writers, agents, editors. I cannot speak my mind in the author groups I belong to, as I know some authors who are very woke. Some because they have children who are transing. It's really tragic that I cannot speak my mind about that process without being accused of transphobia. So I just keep quiet, which sucks. I am not a coward in other respects, not at all.

@OhDear2200 and @TheRattleBag I'm so very sorry to hear this. It's appalling. I hope this situation doesn't last.

I hope in the end it's readers and book buyers who force publishers to see the real landscape out there and stop trying to appease a tiny group of hardline extremists who want to shut women up. One can only hope this is a passing fad and eventually the lack of book sales will make them realise that pandering to a tiny cult is bad bad business.

Two of the biggest fiction genres are romance and women's fiction. These genres absolutely depend on the protagonists being traditionally sexed. The romance genre is HUGE and though I don't write it I know that those readers don't want their females to have penises or their men to have vaginas.

Crime and thrillers are also huge. Readers tend to be conservative with a small c. Genre readers know what they want and the most successful authors know this and are happy to give it to them.

In fact publishing is a very conservative industry. Always has been. It has to be to some extent because it's hugely risky. It costs a lot of money to launch new authors and while some are niche and happy to take a risk on someone they think shows promise what most editors want is a reliable seller. Someone who will keep writing books that delight their readers. They all want a JK Rowling/Robert Galbraith. Agents especially love bestsellers as agents make no money whatsoever until an author starts selling. (That includes the advance as that counts as being sold to a publisher).

There will always be a place for niche publishing and rightly so. We should all be able to find books we want to read and that means going far beyond what's available at an airport bookstand or in our local WHSmith. But in the end, it's the blockbusters they want and its authors who promise the big sales that most agents and editors are after. They're all looking for that gold in the submissions they get. Always is the hope this one will "go" and make them lots of money.

I feel so strongly about women’s rights and absolutely appalled at what’s happening but I’m also scared of losing my job that I love.

It shocks me that I’m in this situation. It’s 2020 FFS.

Is there a big market for books by trans authors?

If not, how do publishers/agents think they're going to keep making a living pushing books that they think the public should read as opposed to books they might want to read...? I'm just wondering this wonderingly.

@BlueFreeze I wonder much the same myself in a wonderingly sort of way. As I understand it the biggest book buyers are middle-aged and older women. So maybe in the end, the market will decide?

They can sign all the woke authors they want. But if people don't buy, publishing can be pretty brutal! A three-book deal turns into a two or even one-book deal. A marketing budget won't be spent on an author whose first book tanked.

They can bully the agents. They can bully the publishers. They can bully the staff and they can bully women on social media. The one thing they cannot do is bully the buyers!

And speaking for myself, as a middle-aged/older woman who buys, reads and listens to books avidly, I ain't buying. Shut me up on Twitter, threaten my livelihood, abuse me all you want. You can't make me open my purse. That, ultimately, is the power we have.

There just is not a huge market for such characters and any publisher who tries to push trans books will fail dramatically. And I think they know it.

There is some utter crap being published these days. The woker it is, the bigger chance of it being published. Try to find a recent YA or fantasy title that isn't all about queer trans non-binary people and their unique oppression. Even if it's not central to the narrative, writers feel they have to shoehorn something in. Silence is violence and all that.

Is there a big market for books by trans authors?

If not, how do publishers/agents think they're going to keep making a living pushing books that they think the public should read as opposed to books they might want to read...? I'm just wondering this wonderingly.